GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 505 



The eggs are laid about the middle of June and are two 

 in number ; in colour they are olivaceous shading to russet- 

 brown with a few dark brown spots. 



Geographical distribution. As a breeding-species the 

 Great Northern Diver resorts chiefly to the New World 

 and is widely distributed over the colder regions of North 

 America. It nests from Greenland westward across Nor- 

 thern Canada to Alaska. In the north-west of Canada it 

 meets with its ally the White-billed Diver, while the latter 

 extends its range eastward to Arctic Asia. Iceland seems 

 to be the eastern limit and the only European country 

 where our bird nests ; yet it is interesting to note that 

 adults have been observed about North Scotland throughout 

 the summer, and there are grounds for supposing that this 

 species may breed in the Northern Scottish Isles. 



TW T O specimens were obtained in Europe under remark- 

 ably interesting circumstances, as recorded by Prof. 

 Newton (Diet. Birds, p. 153). Each bird was previously 

 wounded by a weapon of supposed Trans-Atlantic origin. 

 One had " an arrow headed with copper, sticking through 

 its neck," and was shot on the Irish coast (Thompson, 

 Nat. Hist. Irel., hi, p. 201). The other was found dead in 

 Kalbaksfjord in the Faroes, with an iron-tipped bone dart, 

 fast under its wing (Herr H. C. Miiller, Medd. Nat. 

 Forening, 1862, p. 35). 



In winter the Great Northern Diver wanders along the 

 Atlantic sea-board as far south as Central America, spread- 

 ing eastward to North-western Europe, the Mediterranean 

 and Black Seas. Further eastward, it is represented by 

 C. adamsi. Numbers find their way to large sheets of fresh 

 water in the interior of the North American and European 

 Continents. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Head, satin-black; 

 upper neck and throat, satin-black glossed with purple ; 

 lower neck, black, glossed with green ; the dark ground- 

 colour of the neck is interrupted by two semi-circular 

 bands, each composed of a series of short vertical white 

 stripes ; twelve of these may be counted in the upper band, 

 eighteen in the lower ; back, scapulars, and upper surface 

 of the wings, black, conspicuously marked with white spots 

 arranged in belts ; primaries and tail, brownish-black faintly 



